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The best investment we’ve ever made has been in the education of our four children. It’s also been one of our biggest investments and gee are we glad that phase of our life is now over.

Whether it’s in the state or private system education certainly isn’t free anymore and that cost is not only climbing but also extending.

The annoying thing is also the timing of the expenses. Just when you’re trying to pay off the Christmas credit card bill the back-to-school costs start.

School shoes, uniforms, textbooks, stationary, a couple of hundred dollars in “voluntary” school fees and much more for the 30 per cent of Australian kids that go to independent schools. Bills continue to come in through the school year for camps, excursions, music lessons, dance classes and other extra-curricular activities.

Changes to the higher education system now means the cost of sending your children to university will either send parents broke or students in to long term debt.

Either way it’s daunting for couples who don’t know how much hard cash they’ll need to feed, clothe and educate their children.

However, you can take the stress out of education costs by planning ahead and saving now for the big expenses ahead. And rather than saving in traditional bank savings accounts, there are other ways to make your money work harder for you.